Nisqually River Council

11/02/2026

Nisqually River Education Project Internship! Check out this video from The Evergreen State College highlighting Lexie one of our recent NREP Environmental Educator interns! She did an excellent job working with students out in the field as well as the classroom while gaining some hands-on skills of her own. If you go to Evergreen and are interested in interning in Nisqually - reach out to learn more!

10/30/2026

A brand new water quality site?! Eatonville high school’s wildlife biology class broke ground (water?) on a brand new NREP water quality testing site at Alder Lake this week testing the pH, turbidity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, nitrates, and more in the upper Nisqually watershed! A huge thank you to our partners at Tacoma Power who helped make this trip possible and who even gave the students a tour of the dam while sharing about the hydroelectric facilities generating power along the Nisqually River.

It’s exciting to see this program continue to grow through community partnerships while also introducing the next generation to natural resource career paths! Stay tuned for more water quality as the school year continues.

10/29/2026

It’s tree planting season in Nisqually! This week Nisqually River Foundation staff, Nisqually Land Trust staff and volunteers, and the Nisqually Tribe Crew worked to layout out thousands of trees and shrubs on NLT’s Powell Creek property in anticipation of student and community plantings this November!

This years plantings will work to get a total of 4500 trees in the ground to help build back this important riparian forest habitat while teaching students real world restoration skills and emphasizing the connection between healthy soils and salmon recovery.

Stay tuned for updates on NREP field trips and community volunteer opportunities as planting season continues this fall!

10/22/2026

37th Annual Nisqually Watershed Festival! We kicked off the fall season this September with a HUGE celebration of the environment, culture, and people of Nisqually with 1,585 community members coming out to join in all of the fun! There were plates and plates of barbecued salmon, incredible drum and song from the Nisqually Tribe Canoe Family, standing room only for a shark dissection, hundreds of salmon print t-shirts made, dozens of interactive environmental education booths, and of course a packed mainstage for both The Reptile Man & The Falconer!

Thank you so much to everyone who came out to celebrate all we have done to restore and conserve this beautiful watershed and of course a big thank you to all of our partners, staff, and volunteers who helped make this the best festival yet. We hope you were able to make it out this year and we can't wait to continue exploring the outdoors throughout the rest of 2026 and beyond!

Check out the officially Nisqually Watershed blog post to relive the day and mark your calendars for next year's festival on Saturday September 25th, 2027: https://nisquallyriver.org/blog/2026/10/22/a-moment-of-community-celebration-in-the-watershed/

10/20/2026

Fall workshops, volunteer opportunities, nature walks, and tours! Registration is now open for our free upcoming Nisqually Stream Steward events. Come join us as we get a behind-the-scenes look at Alder Lake Dam, walk the trails looking for birds at Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, plant trees along the river near Powell Creek, and dissect salmon as we spend time looking out at the waters of the Nisqually Reach. There’s something for everyone this fall, so sign up today to reserve your spot - we’ll see you around the watershed!

Learn more & register: https://nisquallyriver.org/stream-stewards/nisqually-stream-stewards-resource-page/

10/16/2026

10/15/2026

We wanted to take a moment to recognize our very own Julia Fregonara who just this month received Thurston Conservation District’s Educator of the Year Community Award! In her role as NREP Assistant Director, Julia has become an expert in introducing students to benthic macro invertebrates (stream bugs), leading salmon dissections, demonstrating proper tree planting technique, and of course keeping the Education Project running and organized with her unrivaled spreadsheet skills.

We’re lucky to have an environmental educator who leads by example and makes sure everyone feels included and valued, rain or shine. Congratulations Julia!

10/09/2026

Learning never stops! The NREP team has spent this week down in Portland, Oregon with our partners at South Sound GREEN & Chehalis Basin Education Consortium at the Annual North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) Conference and Research Symposium!

They’re presenting the important environmental education work we do here in Nisqually while also hearing from other educators, researchers, community organizers, policymakers, youth leaders, and more partners about what they are doing all across the country!

Just goes to show that learning never stops even when you’re out of the classroom! We’re excited to hear about their experience when they are back in the office next week!

10/05/2026

Water quality testing! Engaging students in hands-on, outdoor learning experiences like these is an essential part of connecting what they are learning in the classroom to what is happening in their local communities and environments. Thank you North Thurston Public Schools for highlighting our Nisqually River Education Project watershed explorers field trips! It's an absolute joy seeing students become field scientists as they explore their local waterways.

Learn more about our K-12 outreach program by visiting: nrep.nisquallyriver.org

This fall, NTPS 5th graders apply their classroom knowledge in real...

09/28/2026

It’s salmon season! NREP & NRF staff had a great time this morning helping process fish at Clear Creek Hatchery along the Nisqually River. Thank you to the Nisqually Indian Tribe crew for showing us the ropes and letting us jump in where we could help. Hatcheries serve an important role in our watershed by helping to ensure local fisheries continue. Some of these Chinook will even be used for educational salmon dissections in local classrooms later this year.

Make sure to check out your local rivers and streams throughout the fall season to see these incredible creatures as they return from the ocean to spawn!